Diego's Meltdown
by PhantomWriter2.0
Summary: When Diego slips up and nearly harms his friends in the process of a hunt, what will the others think? And what will Diego do? Will he leave?


_Okay, first time writing an Ice Age fic. I actually like this story and hope you guys do too. It's set after the second movie. I already have about half of the second chapter typed. I'm just flying by the seat of my pants here so, I don't know how long it's going to be or how it's going to end or anything. Bear with me please._

* * *

The floodwaters had receded and the first sure signs of spring had begun to present themselves. Green stalks of grass began to shoot up through the cold ground and birds chirped happily as they flew. The smell of new growth hung in the air like a cloud of perfume.

Ellie and her brothers had been traveling with Diego, Manny, and Sid for nearly four months now. The group had been traveling leisurely for the last few days. They had no specific place to go and Manny did not want Ellie to tire herself out, what with her being so far along in her pregnancy. With the two mammoths now officially together, things had become…awkward to say the least. Manny and Ellie demanded more and more alone time. Sid was extremely enthusiastic about the new arrival while Crash and Eddie were a little disappointed because Ellie could not play with them as much as she used to. Though both Manny and Ellie continually reminded the twins that once the baby was born, they would have a new energetic friend. Diego had begun to stray farther and farther away. He also tried to stay away from Manny and Ellie as much as possible; especially Ellie. No one new quite why, though some ideas had been spread.

Ellie glanced back at her carnivorous friend. He walked a little ways back with his ears pricked for danger, but she could see his mind was elsewhere. She wondered lazily what he thought of in all the time he stayed quiet.

Diego growled as he once again stepped in a large puddle of icy water. Thanks to Sid—as much as he hated to admit it—Diego no longer feared the wet stuff, but that didn't mean he wanted to be stepping in it all the time. Diego shook his large paw and trotted dutifully after his miss-matched herd. They were currently on the open grassland, keeping the forest to their right. This made both Manny and Diego anxious. Manny was used to the snow-covered tundra and taiga, while Diego was used to a similar environment among the rocks and snow. Ellie, Sid, Crash, and Eddie were too amazed to be nervous. An especially negative aspect for Diego was the lack of small game able to be caught by a solitary saber. Speaking of which…

Diego was jerked from his thoughts by his stomach's loud grumbling complaints. Everyone stopped and looked back at their predatory pal. The saber smiled sheepishly. Manny raised and eyebrow and Crash, Eddie, and Sid eyed the saber nervously.

"I'll just scout ahead and meet you guys later." Diego said and vanished in a flash into a swath of trees to his right. The others watched him go as he slipped away gracefully before walking on.

Some hours before dusk, Manny decided his herd could use a break. They stopped by a small lake that was still deep enough for Manny and Ellie to wade in up to their knees. The possum brother commenced to jump headlong into the cool waters. They bobbed to the surface and floated easily on their backs. Ellie and Manny rested lazily in the shallows while Sid tried unsuccessfully to skip rocks. They had been at the watering hole for some time now when…

Suddenly, a large bush-antlered deer burst from the bushes on the other side of the lake, followed by a thickly muscled saber-toothed cat. The deer easily cleared the small body of water with one leap. The saber was close on its heels. It leaped into the air with a vicious roar and landed lightly on its paws on the other bank before continuing its pursuit. The herd watched intently as the saber chased its prey for several yards before it leaped onto the deer's haunches and dug its long claws into the animal's soft flanks. The great deer bellowed mournfully before crashing to the ground under the saber's weight. Once the saber had its prey pinned, it sunk its frighteningly long and curved canines into the deer's neck with a sickening _crunch!_ The saber-toothed cat glanced back at the herd and snarled; a feral sound that sent a cold thrill up their spines. The saber's eyes shone a malicious green in the dwindling light. Manny, Ellie, Sid, and even Crash and Eddie were struck frozen. Before they knew it, the saber had dragged its prey into the safety of a nearby stand of trees so it could devour its meal in private.

Everyone froze in place, staring at the place where the great deer had fallen. No one moved for what seemed like hours.

"I wish Diego were here." Sid finally whispered, wishing he had the tiger by his side to protect him and laugh off the incident as herbivores just acting like prey. It was a sobering moment for Sid; finally realizing what a saber was truly capable of. He had always played around with Diego, but now…he didn't know if he could look at Diego quite the same as he used to—his friend, his family, but most of all…his protector. As Sid contemplated all this, he made a fire with a pair of flint rocks.

"Did something about that tiger look familiar?" Manny questioned fearfully.

"What tiger?" a cool predatory voice asked from the shadows behind the herd. They all whipped around. Only the two mammoths relaxed when they saw it was Diego; the other's nerves were still too frazzled.

Everyone tensed when Diego stepped smoothly from the shadows into the ring of light created by the fire.

"You saw another saber?" Diego sniffed the air cautiously, not understanding his friends' tension. Manny was too busy staring at Diego's bloodstained paws to notice. The saber walked to his spot near the fire and sat back on his haunches. He lifted one large paw lazily and began to lick the blood from his fur.

"So, did you see another saber or what?" Diego asked between licks.

"Yeah, it jumped the pond and chased a deer over there." Manny pointed with his trunk.

"It jumped right across the pond!" said Crash.

"Yeah, and it killed the deer over there!" added Eddie. Diego looked where the three had pointed, stood, walked towards the spot. He found the trail easily and followed it to a large patch of bloodstained grass. He bent to sniff each blade, trying to find another tiger's scent. All the while fighting his fears that he could have been the one to frighten his friends so.

Manny, Sid, and Ellie and her brothers watched intently as Diego sniffed around the area. Diego looked back at them from the dark and the eerie green glow they had seen in the feral eyes of the other saber was now in Diego's calming eyes. Manny had always reasoned that that eerie glow was just something that all sabers shared, but now his paranoia got the better of him and he couldn't help but wonder if the tiger that had dragged that deer away was indeed his carnivorous friend.

"I don't smell any other sabers." Those words stuck in the bull mammoth's mind like none other. How could his docile, witty, and more than anything, trusting friend do something like that? Did he feel remorse for the countless lives he had to take just to survive? Manny suddenly realized the strain his friendship with the herbivores must be putting on his conscience.

Diego came back to the fire and sat down again to finish cleaning the blood from his paws. Countless times, Diego had returned to them with blood staining his paws of a tuft of fur between his claws, but it had never bothered Manny—or any of them—as much as it did now.

"So if you don't smell any other sabers…then who did we see kill that deer?" Sid, the most terrified of them all, asked what they others were to afraid to; fearful of the answer that might roll off the tiger's sandpaper-like tongue.

"Maybe…I should just go." Diego said, realizing what they had finally figured out. Diego had always feared that his friends would see him hunt and would be too to allow him to travel with them anymore. He had planned this from the day he had saved Manny from Soto. He knew what would happen and he was ready. He had lived on his own before…it wasn't that hard…not really.

Diego walked calmly away from the best friends he had ever known.

Manny, Ellie, Sid, even Crash and Eddie watched solemnly as their friend left them…maybe…forever.

~*~*~*~*~

_Some time later, after much arguing…_

"Manny, you have to go after him!" Ellie demanded fiercely, her green eyes blazing.

"Why?" He protested.

"Because he's your kid!" Manny gave her an odd look but decided he did not want to get into the age-old argument.

"Yeah!" Crash and Eddie shouted in unison with their hands on their hips.

"But…" Manny began.

"But nothing Buster, get out there and find that kitty." Sid said and marched in the direction Diego had left. Manny sighed heavily and followed the clumsy sloth. The mammoth easily caught up with the sloth and the two continued in much needed—and surprising—silence.

Diego settled down on a pile of soft cypress fronds after much traveling. He lay down on his left side, exposing his still stiff, scarred right shoulder to the cool night air and rest his head on his paws. His eyes slowly slipped shut against his will and he was soon fast asleep.

~*~*~*~*~

"Sid, shh. We're trying to _find_ Diego, not scare him away." Sid nodded in understanding. They soon came across a considerably small clearing within the trees. Tall yellowed grass hid the ground from view. Sid became nervous, thinking about the all times that Diego had sprung out at him from tall grass just as this. He began shaking as he remembered that Diego was not exactly his friend right now and would probably love to get his claws into his old friend. Manny stopped abruptly and Sid smacked into his friend's large hind leg with a soft "Ow."

Sid slipped up beside Manny to see why the mammoth stopped. Laid out before them was an enchantingly peaceful scene. Diego lay beneath the low-hanging branches of a large cypress. He leaned slightly on his left side as he slept. The two could clearly see the twin lateral scars running the length of the right side of his muscled form; a sure reminder of his loyalty to his friends. Diego's ears twitched as he slumbered and his eyes fluttered as if he were dreaming.

"Sweet dreams, buddy." Sid whispered as he wiped his nose on his claw. He turned to leave and stepped on a twig. The twig snapped with an exaggerated _crack_.

The reaction was instantaneous. Diego leaped to his paws and searched the surrounding area with all of his senses; his ears swiveled, his nose sniffed, his eyes scanned. His hackles were raised and he was on high alert. They had never seen him so intense. The two herbivores were downwind from the saber. Diego finally spotted them and allowed his fur to lie flat. He still glared at them, that eerie glow returning. He stood with his legs spread, ready to run--or attack--if necessary.

"Look, we were irrational. You scared us half to death and we didn't even know it was you." Manny tried to explain. Diego didn't react.

"Come on Tiger, you have to think about it. I just saw my best buddy kill someone and then he _snarled_ at us!" Sid said, waving his arms in the air for emphasis. Diego's stance relaxed but he still stood on the defensive side.

"I knew this would happen. I knew I would lose control one day and scare the living daylights out of you. I smelled all of you, but I was so hungry…I'm too much of a danger to all of you." Diego spoke in a chillingly calm tone, with an undercurrent of self-hatred, which sent a shiver cascading up the herbivore's spines. Diego stared at them, waiting for a reaction. When neither said or did anything, Diego turned and walked away, into the dark cover of the trees.

"If you ever get over yourself, we'll be waiting!" Manny called after his friend's retreating form. Manny heard Diego's soft growl and left with Sid following closely. They had only gotten a few feet when Sid began to speak.

"What are we going to tell Ellie? She told us to go get him not…"

"Shut it, Sid. We'll tell her the truth."

"That Diego's never coming back?" Crash and Eddie jumped from the trees, startling the two, and landed on Manny's tusks. They both crossed their arms and stared up at Manny; unspoken accusations burning in their eyes.

"He's coming back…it's just going to take him awhile."

~*~*~*~*~

Awhile was right. It's been nearly two years since they herd had last seen Diego. Manny and Ellie's calf had been born and named Deidre—Sid had wanted to name her Diego. Every now and then, someone would forget and ask Diego which way to go. Sid would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night, look to the spot where Diego would have slept, sigh sadly, and fall back into a broken sleep. The twins had tried to hide their sadness by spending all their time with Deidre, but their sadness still shone through.

Manny decided it had been long enough. He knew the valley where they had last seen Diego was nearby. He led his herd nonchalantly closer every day. No one knew their destination but the bull mammoth.

~*~*~*~*~

"Sir, a herd of mammoths has been spotted entering the valley from the east! Shall we attack?" A young, medium brown saber asked excitedly, extending his claws and scraping them against the grassy floor.

"No Damian, we will wait till they are closer. Then we will make our move and they will fall" Damian nodded enthusiastically to his leader and trotted off.

"Mammoths? We are too few for mammoths my leader." A lithe ash grey she-cat stepped up to the green-eyed saber who stared down at her, pleased with her forwardness for the young she-cat was usually so timid. The saber flicked his one torn ear and flexed his stiff shoulder.

"We may be few," the large tawny leader leaped from his spot upon a large boulder in the center of the clearing and stepped up to the younger saber, "but we are strong."

~*~*~*~*~

"Come on Deidre; let's go get something to eat!" Manny called to his daughter.

"Okay, Mama!" Deidre's youthful voice called.

Soon, Ellie Deidre, and Sid stepped from the trees and followed the bull to a swath of edible bushes and shrubs with a cliff, twice as tall as Manny, rising up behind the feeding area. The low-growing vegetation grew right up to the cliff face, only leaving a small circle where the bushes had been tramped down by some animal long before. Tall, straw-colored grass grew all around the green bushes. The mammoths ate happily and peacefully while Sid scanned the area and sung to himself.

~*~*~*~*~

"They are close. We are all going. No slacking, these are mammoths not deer. Damian…Scout, you'll flank me. Thorn and Cray will swing around and force them together. Damian, Scout, and I will push them to the cliff face. Then…we attack…" The tawny saber moved forward with confidence and meaning, muscles rippling with every sure step forward. The others fell in position behind him.

~*~*~*~*~

Manny's ears twitched and he turned his head. He thought something had moved in the long grass behind him, but he wasn't sure. He looked at Sid and saw that he was sitting by a bush pulling up and eating dandelions. His eyes drifted over to where his daughter was happily pulling leaves off bushes with her trunk and stuffing them in her mouth. Manny looked back to the long grass and stared. After a few moments, he shook his head, thinking he must be going senile from being around Sid and the possums for so long.

~*~*~*~*~

"Damian, keep quiet. Everyone down. We will attack when the others are in place. No sooner, no later. Understood?" The two sabers alongside him nodded once, their eyes never leaving the clearing beyond the high grass. The sabers moved steadily forward. They listened intently for Thorn's low signaling growl. When the waiting sabers felt the vibration of Thorn's rumbling signal, they sprung…

~*~*~*~*~

The peaceful silence was broken when a large snarling saber leaped from the long grass behind the adult mammoths. Two others leaped out behind the first and stood to either side of the first saber. Two more sabers sprung their bodies from the long grass on either side of the four herbivores. Manny and Ellie stood back to back with Deidre between them while Sid ran as fast as his waddling gait would allow to Manny's side. He hid behind one of the mammoth's massively hairy legs.

Manny stared hard at the first saber. He was a large male with a tawny coat and off-white underbelly. A twin set of long, jagged scars ran from his shoulder, down his right flank, to his haunches. Another scar traveled from the tip of his left ear to the edge of his mouth with a deep claw mark in his left saber. Finally, Manny locked on the tiger's deep green eyes. Realization struck the predator as he recognized his old friend.

He turned suddenly, towards his pack. "Back down!" A dark brown tiger with lighter brown stripes leaped at Sid, claws outstretched. "I said back! Get back, all of you!" The first tiger yelled at his companions. They all took a few steps back. "Thorn, go." He stared down the larger tiger until he turned with a growl and stalked back through the grass. "Cray, Damian," he set his eyes on a small light rust saber and a smaller grey female, "follow him; make sure he gets back to the den." She nodded and ran the way the older male had gone.

The lead saber turned back to the herbivores with a nasty snarl. "What are you doing here?" He asked, not an ounce of friendliness in his tone.

"Diego!" Sid cried as he recognized his old friend's voice. He came out from behind Manny's leg and ran to hug the tiger. Diego snarled menacingly, Sid stopped in his tracks, turned tail and ran back behind Manny's leg.

"I told you not to touch me, Sid." Diego growled. The female saber sitting beside him glanced at the retreating sloth and stepped forward.

"So this is your old herd, eh? How interesting, Diego." She looked at him then to the terrified group of herbivores before them. "Manny, I presume, and Sid, and Ellie. I've heard so much about all of you." The she-cat purred, walking forward towards them.

"Scout, stay out of this!" Diego snarled. She glanced back at him then turned to look at the herd again so they could see her roll her eyes.

"Drop the act, Diego. We both know that you've missed these guys even more than your dignity." She smirked at him and sat down beside him again flicking her tail to emphasize her amusement. Diego merely snorted.

"Really?" Sid asked hopefully, poking his head out.

"No," Diego snarled, baring his sabers.

"Yes," Scout answered for him, "he has talked about nothing else for the past year." Scout said while licking her paws. Diego glared at her—albeit half-heartedly--, but she seemed not to notice. Finally Diego sighed in defeat and sat down heavily beside her.

"Fine, I'll admit, I have missed you guys."

"I knew it! Didn't I tell you Manny? I said 'I bet Diego misses us'! Didn't I?" Sid exclaimed, finally coming out from behind Manny's massive leg.

"We missed you too, Diego." Ellie spoke for the first time since the tigers' arrival.

"So what's with the act?" Manny questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Being a _real_ saber, I can't show weakness or I'd be dead." Scout made a sound that sounded like a disagreement. "Okay, I can't show _much_ weakness. Point of fact, kindness and sympathy are weaknesses. I am the leader of this pack now and I have to be strong for them and that means I can't have food for friends. So, you should leave…quickly. Take Ellie, the baby, the possums, and go. I can't hold Thorn off for long." Diego looked to Scout for help and she gave him a sad look. It seemed as if they were somehow debating something silently. She nodded and he only stared at her, pleadingly.

"We'll escort you to the other end of the valley; you'll be safe once you get out of here. This whole valley is my territory." Both Diego and Scout tensed at the sound of Thorn's distant snarl of rage. "Meet us back here at dusk and Sid," the sloth looked up, "don't make a fire," he went to turn away then turned back, "and don't sing." Sid and Diego shared a small smile before Diego and Scout darted from the clearing.

~*~*~*~*~

Ellie hurried to the place she had left her 'brothers', hoping that on their way through, Diego's other pack members hadn't decided to snack on some possums. She sighed happily when she found Crash and Eddie playing tag in the trees. She called them down to her and began to explain what had just transpired. The twins listened intently to their sister's frightening tale. "So, Diego's gonna be traveling with us again?" A bit of agitation leaked into Eddie's voice. Crash glanced at his brother then up at Ellie.

"Yeah, but just to the end of the valley. Try not to mess with him…he's…changed….a lot." Crash and Eddie nodded and leaped onto Ellie's tusks, then up to her head where they sat calmly until an acorn fell on Crash's head and blamed it on Eddie. Ellie welcomed the distraction from her thoughts.

Ellie walked with a slightly hurried gait to reach the clearing she had left her mate and baby, before dusk. She arrived and found Sid and Manny standing close together with Deidre behind them while Scout sat across from the two herbivores, watching Diego pace furiously back and forth. Diego looked up immediately upon their arrival as did everyone else. Ellie could feel the tension along with her brothers' fear.

"We have to get going." Diego growled and stalked out of the clearing and into the long grass. Sid completely lost track of him in the tall vegetation. Scout followed behind the herbivores and Ellie fell back alongside the she-cat. Scout looked up at the large herbivore and watched as the twin possums leaped from Ellie's head over to Manny's back.

"Hello, we were never properly introduced." Ellie said.

"No, we were not. I'm Scout."

"I'm Ellie. So…what is your relation to Diego?"

Scout seemed a bit taken back by Ellie's boldness. "He is my mate. He told me not to tell any of you, but…I've never listened to him before, so I figured, why start now?" Scout shrugged and glanced to the front of the herd and saw Diego in the lead. "Now I know where he got his leadership skills from…" she mused.

"Any kids?" Ellie suddenly asked, apparently now hearing her.

"You know the young male saber Diego sent off with the grey female?" The shemmoth nodded. "That's our son, Damian, and the other female is my cousin, Cray, and her mate, Thorn."

"You seem pretty okay with all of this," she swung her trunk around to indicate the herd "I don't get it."

"I know you don't," she glanced wistfully at her mate, "because I don't either. I think that I've just accepted his past life as a part of him. When he first started telling us about his old herd, I was fascinated. I couldn't even believe him, but as he told me more and more…I dreamed of the stories he told and somewhere along the way…" The female saber's voice trailed off with a contented sigh.

"You fell in love." Ellie finished for her. Scout nodded.

~*~*~*~*~

"Daddy, my feet hurt." Deidre complained. Manny comforted his daughter and sighed heavily, looking at Diego, hoping he would let them rest soon. Diego glanced back at the half-grown mammoth and for a moment, his eyes were almost the same as they had been when he used to travel with the herd. He shook his head and turned back to the land before him. Diego looked around for a place to rest; he may have built a hard shell around himself, but he still had a heart. He led the herd to a large cave, big enough for both Manny and Ellie.

"We'll rest here," Manny said a soft thank you, "but we leave at first light. So…uh…get some sleep." Diego faked a cough to hide his kindness. As Scout walked past she flicked her slightly longer tail under Diego's chin, causing a dreamy look to come across his face as he breathed in her sweet scent. Diego saw the looks he was receiving from his old friends and shook his head then bent to lick his chest fur self-consciously. He looked around the cave: Sid was trying to start a fire, Ellie was making a nest of leaves for Deidre—the possums were helping--, Scout was lying on her side licking her fur clean, and Manny was watching the goings on with interest.

Diego walked up to his mate and lay down beside her. She immediately stopped licking herself and started running her sandpaper-like tongue between Diego's ears. Everyone looked up in surprise when a rumbling purr started in the saber's chest and joined Scout's own, more feminine, purr. Diego's eyes were closed and his thoughts were only for Scout. Both the possums and Sid fell asleep to the sound of the sabers' purrs. This went on for a few moments until Diego fell into a deep sleep with his head resting on his paws and a rumbling purr still vibrating his body. Scout began to run her rough tongue down his flank when she reached the scars. She stopped.

"He told me the story of how he met you, but he never did tell me how he got those…" she pondered idly.

"He got those by saving me," Manny explained in a whisper. "His old pack leader, Soto, leaped at me and at the last second, Diego jumped in front of me and took Soto's blow." Scout nodded and looked down at her mate. She lay her head down beside his and fell into a peaceful sleep. The others soon followed suit.

~*~*~*~*~

The next morning came all too soon for the slumbering mammals. Dawn broke the horizon and fresh morning light shone into the large confines of the cave. Sid's fire was only ashes. Diego stood and stretched as the sun warmed his fur. He gently nudged Scout awake with his nose. She stood, stretched in a characteristically feline and feminine way, and shook herself of dirt. Diego smiled softly as he watched her. Diego's eyes went wide, his fur stood on end, and his ears stood erect as he caught the scent of another saber.

The two sabers leaped to the entrance of the cave and waited for the intruder to show himself. Diego caught a movement of the long grass out of the corner of his eye and didn't hesitate. He pounced with a territorial snarl and pinned the intruder to the grassy ground. He snapped his jaws in the other saber's face who cowered away. Diego jumped off the saber when he recognized the intruder as his son.

"Damian, what are you doing here?" Diego snarled half-heartedly. The others had woken at the sound of the scuffle and now crowded at the entrance of the cave.

Scout stepped up to her son and nuzzled his face with her own. Diego side-stepped to allow Scout to talk to their son. "Damian, you're supposed to be at the den keeping Thorn from going against your father's wishes." Damian stood and shook himself.

"That's what I came to tell you. Cray said that Thorn was losing control and she wouldn't be able to hold him back much longer. She sent me to tell you that we need to leave now!"

"You heard him, let's move!" Diego said and raced forward. The others followed hurriedly. "We have to reach the river by sunhigh!" Sid waddled as fast as he could while carrying a sleeping Eddie in his arms. Manny scooped up the struggling sloth and his sleeping ward and threw him onto his back without stopping. Everyone soon tired and they slowed to a fast walk. Manny ordered Sid and Eddie off his back.

Damian walked to the side of the herd, scouting for danger while Sid walked beside him. "So, you're Diego's kid, eh?" Damian nodded. "Tell me, what's it like to have the big bad tiger for a dad?" Sid asked. Damian stared straight forward, showing no signs that he had heard the sloth's question.

"I don't know, he's tough, but he's also a good dad." Damian said.

"Sounds like him…does he ever sing to you?" the sloth asked out of the blue.

Damian seemed surprised by the question. "Uh, no. He just told stories and sort of…hummed to me. Most of the stories were about you guys and your adventures. The rest were about his time in his old pack with Soto." Damian appeared to be lost in thought so Sid snapped his fingers in front of the tiger's face. Damian blinked and looked at the strange sloth.

"Diego always drifted off too." Sid explained. "So, what did he say about me? Did he tell you about my marvelous adventures as Lord of the Flame?" Sid asked, placing a weight of self-importance on his self-bestowed title. Damian only chuckled.

"Yeah, he told me about that. I couldn't stop laughing for _days_." Damian teased. Sid pouted half-heartedly and folded his arms. He looked away from the young tiger—which meant he was looking away from the ground in front of him—and tripped on a tree root growing up from the ground. He fell face first in the dirt. Damian couldn't help the laugh that escaped him as he watched Sid struggle to his feet and nonchalantly brush himself off.

Diego glanced back at the sound of his son's laugh and shook his head at his old sloth friend. He allowed a small smile to slip onto his face. Scout, who was now walking beside him, saw the smile and decided to pounce on the opportunity. "You know you've missed them." She said casually with a meaningful undertone.

He sighed. "Yeah, I know, but I've told you that I'm too much of a danger to them. I scared them all half to death and couldn't even stop myself."

"Quit beating yourself up about that; it happened almost _two years_ ago." Scout said, emphasizing the time frame.

"I know. I guess I should be over that by now, but…I'm not." Diego hung his head.

"This is your opportunity. You've been given a second chance to make things right with your herd. You either keep traveling with them after you get out of the valley, or you lead them to the end then turn back and return to the pack. Either way I'll be with you. Two choices: go with the herd and be happy, or go pack to the pack and be miserable."

Diego had a sudden thought. "What about Damian?" He stopped, listening to his son's laughs and Sid's undignified snorts.

"What's up, uber tracker?" Manny asked, coming up behind the two sabers.

"Nothing…it's…nothing, nothing at all." Diego said.

"That's a whole lot of nothing." Manny mused. Diego was silent for a time.

"Manny, would you…would you mind if Scout, Damian, and I traveled with you?"

"You mean…" Manny questioned hopefully.

"Permanently." Diego answered.

"Not at all old buddy." Manny said without hesitation. "Not at all." The mammoth said, emphasizing each word gleefully—well, as gleeful as Manny could sound. Apparently, Sid had heard the conversation because he rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Diego thick neck.

"Sid," Diego said.

"Yeah?"

"You smell." Sid only laughed and hugged his friend tighter. Diego sighed and sat down, deciding not to resist the hugs he had been missing so much. Manny, Ellie, and Deidre all rested their trunks on Diego's shoulders while the possums stood on his back. Sid began to cry exaggeratedly and dug his face into the mane of dark fur along Diego's neck. He may have lost his dignity when he traveled with this herd of misfits, but he gained a group of true friends.

"Aw, what a touching scene." A cold, predatory voice said from behind. "It just makes me wanna barf, eh, Diego?" Everyone in the group—predator and prey alike—glared at the intruders.

"I'm sorry, Scout. I tried to stop him, but…" Scout nodded and spared a short glance of understanding before returning the glare Thorn was giving Diego and Scout. Damian stood guard in front of Sid and Deidre.

"Damian, get the others out of here. Scout and I will handle the traitor."

Thorn was speechless for a second. "Traitor!? You're the one who traveled with those herbivores for years before you became our pack leader! You have no right to call anyone a traitor, you gutless hog!"

Diego snarled; a fierce and terrifying sound to herbivores. Deidre trembled behind Damian. "I don't have to explain myself to you! You're the coward," Diego suddenly got a cocky expression and Scout and Manny both knew what was coming. "Remember last spring when you ran from that Halfling human? If you don't call that cowardice then I don't know what is." Diego taunted and Thorn leaped into the air. Diego rolled to dodge the attack and went for the other saber's soft underbelly with his hind claws. He kicked up fiercely and sent the other tiger sprawling. Thorn quickly got to his feet and charged Diego once more.

Scout could see the cool, calculating air in her mate's movements and knew that he knew exactly who was going to win and how. She hurried the possums and Sid up the nearest tree and had Manny and Ellie stand on either side of Deidre so they could block any stray attacks.

Thorn finally got a handle on Diego when the smaller saber landed wrong and rolled to a stop under the tree Sid and the possums were hiding in. The three peered worriedly down at their carnivorous friend. They all sighed happily when he rose and shook himself off. This time, Diego decided to take the initiative and attack first. He leaped high into the air and landed hard on the other saber's back, breaking his opponent's stance. Diego jumped free as Thorn tried to grab Diego and roll him under his massive weight.

"Ready to give up yet?" Diego asked, slightly out of breath.

"Not even close," Thorn panted. Diego could see the fighting was taking a toll on his larger opponent, but he wasn't so arrogant and prideful that he couldn't feel the wear on his own body. He knew this fight would have to end soon or it would end badly for both of them.

Thorn leaped straight for Diego without hesitation. The smaller, quicker saber barely missed his opponent's swiping claws. Diego pounced on his pack mate's exposed back, claws unsheathed and ready. His long, curved claws dug into the skin on Thorn's flanks. Thorn threw Diego from his back and attacked the smaller saber before he even had a chance.

Manny tried to rush forward to save his friend, but Scout held him back. She shook her head and said, "This is their fight." There was a frighteningly ominous tone to her voice that sent shivers up the large mammoth's spine. The herbivores looked on in concern for their friend.

Thorn pounced and tore into Diego, his laws coming back into view with blood and clumps of fur between them. The assault lasted mere seconds, but it seemed like a lifetime to those who rooted for Diego. Finally, he managed a kick into Thorn's soft underbelly and sent him sprawling. Diego stood on uncertain legs and bared his teeth savagely at his attacker. Blood was dripping from his wounds and into a pool of crimson at his feet. Thorn hesitated and that was all the opportunity his former leader needed. Diego flung himself across the small clearing towards Thorn and landed a mere foot from him. The sabers stood face to face for what seemed hours till Diego spoke.

"You are to listen to your leader and follow his orders without question or hesitation," Diego said, teeth bared. Thorn backed down and nodded, ashamed at his own betrayal. "This is my pack now, if you don't like it, you can leave. I won't stop you." His words were filled with a strength that was beyond him, but his voice and body were trembling with the effort. Scout hurried to his side and pressed against his shoulder, coaxing him to lean against her. He sighed softly and leaned heavily against her.

Thorn saw his former leader's weakness, but he also knew of his dogged determination. Diego and Scout both saw the fire of hate die within his emerald eyes and knew he would leave peacefully.

Thorn limped into the long grass and soon disappeared. Cray hesitated at the edge of the grass. Her yellow eyes showed her confliction. "He needs someone to look after him…" she said unsurely.

Scout nodded, "Go, he needs you." And, with that, she was gone as well.

Diego managed enough strength to keep himself on his paws until Thorn and Cray left. Once they were gone, Damian and Scout led him to a soft pile of fern fronds and helped him as he collapsed to the soft earth. Everyone watched as Scout carefully and meticulously cared for her mate's wounds. Diego managed a rough purr as Scout cleaned his wounds, wincing every so often.

Manny walked up to his friend and placed the tip of his trunk against his flank. Diego looked up and smiled, wincing as Scout licked clean a particularly nasty gash.

"You protected us from your own pack." Manny said, mystified.

Diego smiled. "That's what you do in a herd." Manny couldn't help but smile, remembering the bachelor's old maxim.

Diego lay his head back down and allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep. Scout licked him until she fell asleep, her head resting on Diego's side. Damian curled up next to his father and was soon deep in dreams.

"They're a cute couple aren't they?" Sid commented as he finished the fire and sat down next to Manny, across the fire from the sleeping sabers. Manny just looked across the fire and watched the sabers' flanks rise and fall. He smiled, remembering the fight from earlier and realizing that he had an amazing group of friends. Ellie snaked her trunk around his and smiled at him. Manny returned the gesture by lightly squeezing her trunk and smiling. Sid was fast asleep by the time Manny and Ellie looked up. Ellie told Deidre to sleep between her parents for tonight. The young mammoth snuggled up next to her father's side and fell fast asleep, along with Crash and Eddie who hung from a tree above the mammoths' heads. The adult mammoths weren't far behind.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Next chapter will be up within the next two weeks. I become unmotivated very easily so I've found that if I work too much on one story in a short amount of time, it doesn't get done. Slow and steady won the race, ya know._

_-Phantom_


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